STREAM BRIDGING: At the Brookside Homeowners’ Association annual meeting in 2015, new Councilman David Ryu said he would like to see the famous stream that gives the community its name. In a recent visit with residents, he got his wish. Pictured, L to R and adjacent to one of the backyard bridges, are Pete and Patty Allee, Sandy Boeck, Councilman Ryu, and Owen Smith.

Brookside residents concerned about preservation and residential development issues in their neighborhood met Feb. 1 to hear about their options.

They listened to presentations concerning the city’s Historic Preservation Overlay Zone (HPOZ program), a Baseline Mansionization Ordinance and efforts to tighten it up, and something most in attendance had never heard of before—a CDO, or Community Design Overlay. A CDO district is a specified set of boundaries within which there are design guidelines and standards customized for that area.

Ken Bernstein, the manager of Office of Historic Resources within the city’s Planning Department, spoke at the third in a series of monthly meetings designed to empower residents with information to help them decide the most appropriate course(s) of action to preserve the character of Brookside.

Many residents in recent months have come to feel the area is threatened.

The meetings are agnostic in the sense they are not designed to steer residents to a particular solution with respect to preservation and development. Rather, the meetings are intended to provide factual information about options and exposure to a variety of perspectives from people with direct experience in this field.

These meetings were initiated by Brookside residents Jan Wieringa and me in December, and they will continue at least through June.

We’re starting to see a number of homes in Brookside being flipped. Given what’s happened to similar size homes in adjacent neighborhoods, where they’ve been torn down and grossly overbuilt relative to the lot size, in a style that’s often out of character to the rest of the neighborhood, it’s gotten many neighbors nervous.

The meetings are being videotaped and will be posted on a community website to be launched in March, Brooksider.net. The Preservation & Development section of the site will also include meeting minutes, resource links and information provided by guest speakers, the City Council and other organizations.

By Ray Forbes

Ray Forbes is president of the Friends of Brookside and a board member of the Brookside Homeowners’ Association.